HRS Locations
Hydrogen refuelling stations require volume of vehicles to be economic (e.g. 100’s of cars, 10’s of buses). As a result, the careful siting of stations in parallel with growing demand for vehicles is important.
The UK H2Mobility strategy is to site stations in regional hydrogen clusters, with demand underpinned by vehicles operating within these regions (buses, delivery trucks, local rail and fleet cars).
Hydrogen infrastructure in the UK today
Include
Overview
Credit Air Liquide
1. Source of hydrogen
Low pressure hydrogen (H2) is stored in bottles (“cylinder racks”), tanks or tube trailers.
2. Boosters
H2 is compressed using boosters.
3. Buffers
Once the pressure has been increased (700 bars) H2 is stored in bottles known as buffers.
4. Exchanger
Before it is distributed, H2 is cooled using the exchanger and the refrigeration unit.
5. Dispenser
It enables disctribution of H2 to the vehicle’s tank, filling it in a few minutes!
6. Air compressor
H2 is compressed using boosters.
7. Buffer tank
It regulates and supplies the air needed to make the boosters function.
8. Refrigeration
Unit supplies cooling fluid to the exchanger, and is made up of a buffer tank that stores and regulates the flow of the liquid, the pumps and the electrical control cabinet.
9. General control cabinet
The station’s electrical control cabinet.
These clusters can become economically sustainable and then grow as more vehicles are bought in the local area, eventually linking together via the major arterial roads to form a nationwide refuelling network.
This roll-out has begun, underpinned by considerable investment from the UK Government and European funding.
